The college program at San Quentin Prison dramatically reduces recidivism, according to a new report by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
In the first year of the study, the department found that the 37 prisoners who received their Associate of Arts degrees through the Prison University Project recidivated at a rate of 5.4 percent in the first year after their release. The control group – 33 former San Quentin prisoners of similar age, race, commitment offense, and sentence – had a recidivism rate of 21.2 percent.
The average recidivism rate of level II inmates is 63.2 percent over a three-year period. Corresponding data is not yet available for PUP students.
The non-profit PUP recruits volunteer teachers from area colleges. The program is accredited by Patten University in Oakland, which awards A.A. degrees to graduates.
The program began in 1994, when prisoners became ineligible for PELL grants, then the primary source of funding for prison college programs.
The report also analyzed substance-abuse programs and post-release community-based aftercare. Neither program significantly reduced recidivism by itself, though the combination resulted in a three-year recidivism rate of 31.3 percent, the study reported.
